Season 2 of The Riff Toronto features Taku Dazai, Gary O’Brien, and Jeremy Green exploring Walter Klassen Studios, showcasing practical movie magic, custom props, and a high-tech 1970s wheelchair for the drama Being Heumann.
Inside the Studio of Practical Magic
Step behind the curtain and into the hidden rooms where movie magic comes to life. Season 2 of The Riff Toronto kicks off with hosts Gary O’Brien and Jeremy Green taking viewers straight to the floor of Walter Klassen Studios. This is the world-renowned Toronto workshop where custom engineering meets iconic cinema, building the tangible props and suits for massive hits like Star Trek, Frankenstein, and Captain America.
Crafting the Future and the Past
For this special upcoming episode, the team sits down with Walter Klassen’s Chief Creative Officer, Taku Dazai. Sharing roots as a local Toronto OCAD student turned master of industry design, Dazai walks the podcast through the unbelievable intensity of modern prop creation. Take, for instance, a deceptively ordinary 1970s-era wheelchair featured in the biographical drama Being Heumann starring Mark Ruffalo and Ruth Madeley. On screen, it looks period-authentic; behind the scenes, it is a masterclass in hidden high-tech engineering.
Have Your Say
The production team is throwing the mic over to you—the film buffs, local creators, and moviegoers. While Dazai is in the studio, fans are invited to submit their burning questions about movie animatronics, custom props, or what it takes to break into this wild career path.
For a look at the studio spaces and the intricate work that goes into crafting props for blockbusters filmed right here in Toronto: